Robert Smith (November 3, 1757 – November 26, 1842) was an American politician, diplomat, and

admiralty law Maritime law or admiralty law is a body of law that governs nautical issues and private maritime disputes. Admiralty law consists of both domestic law on maritime activities, and conflict of laws, private international law governing the relations ...

yer. He served as the second

United States Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On Mar ...

from 1801 to 1809 and the sixth

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

from 1809 to 1811. He was the younger brother of

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Samuel Smith. Smith was a veteran of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

and later graduated from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, then known as the College of New Jersey. As a respected lawyer, Smith became part of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

's political elite, launching his political career under

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

and later

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

. After a forced resignation from the Cabinet in 1811, Smith served as president of the American Bible Society and the Maryland Agriculture Society. Retired from public office, Smith died in 1842.

Early life

Smith was born in Lancaster,

Province of Pennsylvania The Province of Pennsylvania, also known as the Pennsylvania Colony, was a British North American colony founded by William Penn, who received the land through a grant from Charles II of England in 1681. The name Pennsylvania was derived from ...

. During the

, Smith enlisted as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

, later participating in the

Battle of Brandywine The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American Continental Army of General George Washington and the British Army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777, as part of the Am ...

Legal practice

He graduated from Princeton in 1781 and was admitted to the Maryland Bar. In private practice, Smith specialized in

. Smith flourished as a maritime lawyer, establishing the "largest admiralty practice of his time."

Political career

Smith was well-respected from his legal career. Due to his public profile, Smith was selected as an elector to the

Electoral College An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

representing Maryland during the

1788–89 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States from December 15, 1788 to January 7, 1789, under the new Constitution ratified in 1788. George Washington was unanimously elected for the first of his two terms as president and John Adams ...

Elected office

After Smith's entry to partisan politics, he was elected to the Maryland State Senate from 1793 to 1795 and to the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the Maryland General Assembly, legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House ...

from 1796 to 1800. While serving in the Maryland House, Smith was also elected to the Baltimore City Council in 1798.

Cabinet Secretary

As a legal expert in admiralty law,

appointed him as Secretary of the Navy in July 1801, after William Jones declined the position. On March 2, 1805, the Senate confirmed the appointments of Smith as

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the Federal government of the United States, federal government. The attorney general acts as the princi ...

and Jacob Crowninshield as Secretary of the Navy. However, Crowninshield declined his appointment, so Smith briefly served as both Attorney General and Secretary of the Navy. Eventually, President Jefferson appointed John Breckinridge to replace Smith as Attorney General and Smith resumed his role as a full-time Secretary of the Navy. Smith left the office of Secretary of the Navy at the end of President Jefferson's administration on March 4, 1809. President

appointed Smith to serve as Secretary of State on March 6, 1809, and he served in this position until his forced resignation on April 1, 1811.

Policies

During his time as Secretary of State, Smith pursued an assertive policy to claim the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

-controlled

West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...

. In October 1810, Smith lied to General Louis Marie Turreau, claiming the United States would not support rebellion in the territory. Later the same month, Smith received word from David Holmes that West Florida declared its independence. American forces subsequently invaded West Florida. In personal correspondence, Smith pushed for an amendment to ban persons with foreign titles from serving in the New Hampshire legislature, though the amendment failed. Resignation Smith was closely allied with his brother, Maryland Senator Samuel Smith, and bitterly opposed Treasury Secretary

Albert Gallatin Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan-American politician, diplomat, ethnologist, and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years ...

. In March 1811, Gallantin threatened to resign if Madison didn't dismiss Smith. Madison thought that Smith could be his own Secretary of State, but Smith so often pursued opposite policies that Madison finally demanded his resignation. In Madison's April 1811 "Memorandum on Robert Smith," the president offered a laundry list of Smith's shortcomings. Madison questioned Smith's loyalty; found Smith's diplomatic correspondence wanting, and noted that Smith had been indiscreet in conversations with the British and had opposed the administration's efforts to secure concessions from Britain and France by limiting trade. Apparently, Smith was bewildered by these and other charges leveled by Madison and published an exoneration of himself, "Robert Smith's Address to the People of the United States," which was an attack on Madison's foreign policy. Madison offered Smith the post of Minister to Russia, which was currently held by

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

. Smith considered the offer, but in the end, he refused the post.

Personal life

Smith became the president of the not-yet-fully-organized

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engag ...

in 1813. In 1818, he became the founding president of the Maryland Agriculture Society and afterwards retired to a more private life where he enjoyed his wealth. Robert Smith died in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, on November 26, 1842, aged 85.

Legacy

The was named for him.

References

* Clifford Egan, "Robert Smith" in Edward S. Mihalkanin, ed. ''American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell'', Greenwood Press 2004, pp. 478–83.

External links

*
Robert Smith
at the

Naval Historical Center The Naval History and Heritage Command, formerly the Naval Historical Center, is an Echelon II command responsible for the preservation, analysis, and dissemination of U.S. naval history and heritage located at the historic Washington Navy Yard ...

Robert Smith
at the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

Robert Smith
at the Hall of the Secretaries of State , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Robert 1757 births 1842 deaths American people of the War of 1812 Burials at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground Continental Army soldiers Jefferson administration cabinet members Maryland state senators Members of the Maryland House of Delegates Politicians from Lancaster, Pennsylvania People of Maryland in the American Revolution Princeton University alumni United States secretaries of the navy United States secretaries of state Madison administration cabinet members American slave owners 18th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly